


While the Moon Looks On

by Stealthtable



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: (sort of), Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M, Nightmares, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 18:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13129734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stealthtable/pseuds/Stealthtable
Summary: Magnus can’t sleep.Neither can Taako.





	While the Moon Looks On

There it is again. Magnus hears a ragged breath, like someone is trying to settle themselves. And again. This time the breath hitches in the middle, ending with a long shudder.

Another breath, a little more even this time. And another, ragged. Magnus listens carefully to the breathing, and squints through the darkness toward it. Merle’s curled up in his bedroll, breathing deep and even as he sleeps. It’s not him, then.

Magnus stares up at the sky. The moon stares back, full and luminous. It’s cold out here, and he’s not getting back to sleep anytime soon. Not after the dream. Again. Not after he saw plain as day the column of smoke rising where his home should be. Not after he reached the spot and found no home, no Julia, no Steven, only blackened ruins. He listens to the breathing. It sounds like Taako’s awake too.

“Taako?” Magnus half whispers into the darkness.

The breathing stops altogether. “What? Tryna meditate here,” Taako answers, a little too forcefully.

“It’s kinda cold out here,” Magnus begins, “should we, uh...do you think we should scoot together? You know, for warmth?”

Magnus hears a huff. “What, big tough guy have a nightmare? Big ol’ strong man Magnus needs someone to share his bedroll cause of some spooky noise?” Taako sneers.

Magnus flushes a bit. Taako’s right, but Magnus doesn’t really feel like getting into it. Fuck it.

“If I say yes, would you crawl in here?” he asks.

Taako considers. In fairness, he hasn’t been able to get into a proper trance. He’s tense, and can’t get the sensations to stop coming: the harsh acid smell of vomit, the sound of groaning, the wailing as first victim died, the fast jostling of the wagon, the realization that he’s alone. Thank fuck he’s been able to keep from making too much noise this time; sometimes these morph into night terrors. Maybe Magnus’s offer would be nice. Fuck it.

“Fine,” he replies as dismissively as he can, “but you should know that normally no one gets Taako into bed without dinner and drinks, so you fucking owe me at the next inn, got it? And if you put even one cold toe on me I will end you.” He moves to Magnus’s side and slides down into the bedroll.

“I got it,” Magnus replies, “scoot on in.”

Magnus snuggles in next to Taako, burrowing down into the bedroll. The contact feels good, relaxing even. It’s been a long time since anyone’s snuggled up next to him. He wraps one arm around Taako and feels a jab in his chest.

“Whoa, whoa, it better be a good fucking dinner and no skimping on drinks for fucking snuggling, my dude,” Taako grouses, poking Magnus in the chest repeatedly to punctuate his remarks.

“Ssh, trying to sleep, Taako,” Magnus teases, giving the elf a light squeeze. Taako glowers, but without any real heat behind it before settling in on Magnus’s chest.

Taako takes a deep breath. Magnus smells of sweat and leather, and faintly sweet, like sawdust. And he’s firm and solid, and big enough to have plenty of real estate to lean on or hide behind. Taako can hear his heartbeat thumping steadily in his chest.

“Can’t believe a dude from Craigslist is trying to take advantage of my body heat,” Taako gripes, “like, get your own, ya know? This is Taako’s.”

“If you wanna go back you can,” Magnus begins, “I’m not here to make you do anything you don’t wanna d—“

Taako cuts him off. “Shut up and snuggle,” he orders, “Taako’s nothing if not generous, fuck.”

The two lie in silence for a while, each lost in thought. Slowly, Taako wraps an arm over Magnus’s chest and burrows his face deeper into his chest.

Magnus reaches his other arm across and settles his hand on Taako’s back, fingers weaving through the elf’s long hair. The two are unequivocally embracing now, and Magnus smiles as Taako squeezes him tighter and grabs a handful of his shirt. He knew it. Taako’s hostility was all for show.

“Hey, Magnus,” Taako begins, “are you warmer now?”

“Yeah,” Magnus replies, “are you?”

“Yeah,” Taako admits, “better keep at it though so your ass doesn’t freeze, I guess.” He shifts upward slightly, settling his head into the crook of Magnus’s shoulder and shifting Magnus’s hand to the small of his back in the process.

Magnus settles his hand more firmly into the small of Taako’s back and turns his head. Taako’s hair smells like soap and some sort of cheap perfume Magnus can’t place. He takes a deep breath.

“You smell nice,” Magnus whispers, and Taako’s ear twitches. “Hey, Taako? Could I kiss you?”

Taako lifts his head and fixes Magnus with a point blank stare. He rakes his eyes over Magnus’s face and finds nothing but sincerity and curiosity. For some strange reason, he trusts this man. Maybe it’s just the moonlight, but...

“Yeah,” he answers, “why not?”

And Magnus does. He cradles the back of Taako’s head gently with one hand as their lips meet, softly at first. Magnus’s tongue teases at Taako’s lips, and Taako opens them to allow entry. Taako brings an arm up and wraps it around Magnus’s neck, then shifts to climb onto Magnus, straddling him and kissing back fiercely. Magnus shifts his hand to Taako’s hip, holding him tightly. The two spend a long moment in the kiss before it ends gently with Taako dropping flat onto Magnus’s chest.

Magnus wraps his arms back around Taako and they stay there, not talking and unwilling to move, for a long while.

“Good night, Taako,” Magnus says as Taako shifts back to where he was before with his head on Magnus’s shoulder.

“Night, Magnus,” Taako replies, snuggling himself deeper into Magnus’s side.

The next morning, Merle wakes up to find the two still wrapped around each other sharing a bedroll. He shrugs. For some reason he can’t quite place, that seems about right.

**Author's Note:**

> Let these boys kiss, they like it. This is set during the traveling montage in Here There Be Gerblins.
> 
> As always, feel free to yell in the comments!


End file.
